How to Insert Special Characters and Symbols (including Smiley Faces!) into Text in Microsoft Word:Tips For Beginners

Add smileys and other symbols to your Word documents.

Whether you use Microsoft Word for business or personal reasons, sometimes the characters on the keyboard just don't cut it for your needs. To fill in the holes left by the QWERTY, Microsoft Word offers an easy to add collection of symbols and special characters. Use them to declare parts of your document as copyrighted, or to break down mathematical calculations. Word even offers two ways to add a smile into your document text.

Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Word. Type the document text, or open an existing document by clicking the "File" tab, selecting "Open," browsing to the file, double-clicking it, then scrolling to the first place to insert a special character.

2. Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the screen. Click the "Symbol" button on the right side of the ribbon.

3. Choose a symbol from the small fly-down menu, or click "More Symbols."

4. Scroll through the symbols tab, and double-click a symbol such as the registered trademark. Note that double-clicking instantly adds the symbol, then click the "Insert" button.

5. Click the "Special Characters" tab. ¬¬Click once on the special character to add, such as an Em Dash. Click the "Insert" button, which inserts the special character and closes the window.

6. Position the cursor to the right of a character where you want to add a smiley face. Type a colon, dash and closing parenthesis, then press the "Enter" key. Word automatically changes the three typed characters to the smiley face emoticon.

7. Add a smiley face shape by clicking the "Shapes" button on the "Insert" tab. Scroll to the smiley face shape, and click it. Position the cursor on the page, click and drag the mouse to form the smiley face shape.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Microsoft Office: Getting Started with Word 2010